It is offical, I have not ever experienced heat like this before. Tempatures are reaching 40c during the day and about 25 during the night. I sweat just standing in the shade.... but it is better than cold... I think. The hotel we are staying at has a fan in it (which is the first hotel with a fan I have had mind you...) and it is only costing $3 AUD a night including breakfast.

Yesterday was spent doing the touristy thing and this involved visiting 'Abu Simbel', the Temple of Phillae" and the Aswan Dam. We had organised a mini bus for transfer around these sites... none mentioned that the bus would not be mini but micra! Trying to fit in 10 people in this bus was crazy especially when most of the guys were 6ft plus!

So the day started with a 3am wake up call - yes 3am. The idea behind this is that between Aswan and Abu Simbel it is not the safest parts of Egypt... only in the alast 9 months or so they have actually opened the roads... you used to have to fly in from Cairo or Luxor. So up at 3am and on the bus (or toy bus) at 4am and then into a line of waiting transport to be guidedby the police! I have to admit this was a disspointing part of the trip because Abu Simbel is some 300_ km away and a 3 hour drive in a bus, by the time you get down there is it just Touristville!

It is just my opinion but I think the egyptians had a chat between themselves that went something like this...

"Hey guys, rumor is we are going to be wiped out by the 20th or so Dynasty... something about Christ moving into our era or whatever... so what I say is that we build this massive temple things and graffitti them with all pictures that will take people forever to work them out... and when they do work them out they will have no idea what the actually mean"

Whatever they were doing they did it on a grand scale, the temples are just amazing. After leaving Abu Simbel and driving another 300km to the Phille Temple - this temple is built out on the Islands of Phillae, the temple was orignally sumbmerged in water for many years and after a UNECO effort it was pulled down and reconstructed on another island to allow visitors to wonder through. To get to the island you take a little dody boat across... now this gives you a very Indiana Jones kinda feeling as you boat along this lake and as you turn the corner there is this massive towering tower.... if you got rid of all the police and security it would defianltly be more Indiana Jones like... but as there were only a handful of tourists it was very very special...

As for the Aswan dam - Dont waste your hard earned Egyptian Pounds.

So this afternoon going to go to a ritzy hotel and pay and use their swimming pool and catch some rays... and then tomorrow heading down the Nile for 3 days and 2 nights for some serious RELAXING... beers and supplies have been ordered!

Thank you to all that have emailed!!! Until nex time Catchya somewhere...